BATON ROUGE, La. — As waters begin to recede in parts of Louisiana’s capital city, some residents struggled to return to flood-damaged homes on foot, in cars and by boat. But though the rain had mostly stopped, new places in the state faced flood dangers from the deluge that has sent thousands into shelters.

Rivers and creeks were still dangerously bloated in areas south of Baton Rouge as people filled sandbags there to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south. In one area, Ascension Parish, officials said some small towns have already been inundated.

Seven deaths have been reported and more than 20,000 have had to be rescued since Friday in some of the worst flooding the state has ever seen. And at least 11,000 have hunkered down in shelters to wait out the floods.

The slow-moving, low-pressure system that dumped more than 20 inches of rain on some parts of Louisiana was crawling into Texas, but the National Weather Service warned the danger of new flooding remained high due to the sheer volume of water flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico.

In and around Baton Rouge, many were anxious to check on damage. But a police officer at one Baton Rouge area roadblock warned Jack Miller that the 60-year-old was risking arrest if he tried to drive a boat on a trailer down a stretch of the highway down to just two lanes.

“I’m trying to get back to my home and rescue my cat,” Miller said.

Authorities late Monday said a body had been pulled from floodwaters in Baton Rouge, raising the toll to seven dead.

Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, said a volunteer patrolling in his boat Monday found the victim in front of a library though the manner of death and the person’s identity still awaited confirmation.

Despite the dangers, people ventured out.

Karla and Johnathon McDaniel waded through chest-deep water to revisit their home they fled late Saturday night but the water was too deep to get inside.

On their way out, the McDaniels stopped to gawk at a monster truck revving its engine in a failed attempt to free a National Guard vehicle mired in a muddy ditch. It was a welcome moment of levity after days of worry around the state’s southeast, which saw thousands of water rescues.

Julee Doiron, 56, and a friend walked down the road to a flooded storage facility where she has a valuable record collection. She felt fortunate the flooding stopped a block short of her home, but she owns a couple of water-damaged rental properties that aren’t covered by flood insurance.